Frozen and Chilled Seafood and Related Business

The chilled and frozen seafood and related business category is mainly composed of seafood items that are normally sold directly to restaurants, hotels, food catering units as ingredients for further processing (cooking) at kitchens when they are prepared into dishes for final consumption. However, these items are also sold through retail channels to consumers. The products generally need to be refrigerated all the time to maintain its shelf-life. Since aqua feed (for shrimp and fish) is part of the supply chain of shrimp business it is also included in this category as related business. In 2016, sales of this category amounted to THB 55.8 billion, representing 42 percent of the Group’s total.Shrimp is the most important species in this category, followed by lobster and crab. Based on our estimate, sales from our own brands (including industrial or non-consumer brands) accounted for about 33 percent of this category with the balance from private label orders. Most products are not immediately ready for consumption by final consumers. The typical shelf life of these items is much shorter than that of ambient seafood, ranging from a few days to a year. The most typical packaging is a plastic bag format.